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The Dutch Hoofdklasse club Sparta/Feyenoord Rotterdam, nine-time champion between 1963 and 1974, ceases to exist. Founded in 1942 the club will terminate his rent agreement with the ballpark in the south of Rotterdam on October 31 and has informed the Royal Dutch Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB) that they will withdraw all their teams from all national and regional competitions.

The club is in financial trouble since 2000 and even supervision by the KNBSB and the municipality since November 2010 hasn’t helped to improve the situation. Already in February the municipality wanted to terminate the rent contract due to massive debts, but Sparta/Feyenoord was able to convince the government of an extension with hopes to sign a big sponsor. But the money never came and debts of eventual €32,000 led to the end of Sparta/Feyenoord’s long story in Dutch baseball.

Greats as Hudson John, Hamilton Richardson and Simon Arindell were key players for Sparta Rotterdam during their most successful run in the 1960ies and 1970ies. In 2005 the club got together with Feyenoord Rotterdam and for the last time reached the playoffs in the Hoofdklasse. At the end of the 2012 season they lost in a relegation/promotion series against the Hawks and would have been demoted to the second division for 2013.